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Getting the Most Out of Field Trips, Part III: Routine

Who doesn’t like a good field trip? There’s nothing quite like fresh air, a change of scenery, and a little exercise to rejuvenate your learning routine. While field trips can be a lot of fun, they will quickly turn into a frustrating mess when not planned properly. Join us as we share tips on how to make the most of any field trip and explore ideas for a smoother day.

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It’s nice when everyone is on the same page, isn’t it? Everyone has an idea of what the set goals are, what the time-table looks like, and what is expected. This is true of most organized events; field trips are no different.

Know Your Plan – If you are attempting to be at your venue by a certain time of day, it helps to have a game plan. Pencil out a tentative itinerary to help keep you on track. Knowing what time your trip is scheduled for (e.g. eleven in the morning), estimate your drive time and plan a time to leave your house; continue working backwards from this point. (For example: Our trip starts at eleven; the drive time is one hour, so we need to leave at ten. However, I know it takes my kids fifteen minutes to get themselves in the car; so, we need to get in the car at 9:45. It takes my kiddos an hour to be up, dressed, fed, and ready to walk out the door; so, they need to be up and awake by at least 8:30 in the morning. I usually get up before them; I will need to be up and awake by 7:30.) Knowing our tentative plan for the day helps eliminate stress.
One additional thought: If others are joining in, add an extra half hour to your plan. Leave plenty of time to meet, expecting people to be a little late, and hand out directions before actually getting on the road. To doubly ensure you are ahead of schedule, throw an extra fifteen minutes into your plan, somewhere along the line. This way, if you happen to run a little late, it’s no big deal.

Share Your Plan – A plan has little chance of success if you are the only one in on it. Let your family, and all others who plan on attending, know the game plan . They don’t need all the details, but a general outline will help them understand your plan of attack and ensure they know what time they need to be ready to walk out the door or at the meeting point. The night before a trip, I usually let my kiddos know what time they will be waking up and what time we are walking out the door. This eliminates constant reminders from me, they are given a wakeup call and they know our family plan. We work as a team to meet our goal.

Stick to Your Plan– As much as possible, stick to your plan of attack. If things go a little awry, just take a deep breath and keep moving forward. Remember, you planned those extra fifteen minutes and perhaps you can make up for lost time along the way, with a little help from the family.

There’s no accounting for little mishaps on busy mornings, but having a tentative plan for your day will help everyone stay on track and prevent unwanted stress. Your routine doesn’t need to be set in stone, but penciling it out doesn’t hurt either.

3 thoughts on “Getting the Most Out of Field Trips, Part III: Routine”

I’m really enjoying this series! Thank you for sharing all these tips. I will definitely be taking them into account. Since my kiddos are toddlers, we just read a book or watch a video about what we are going to go see in advance. But not really much preparation. I definitely need to get more organized on this so that we all have a better educational experience.